The Genus Gongora

Ruiz & Pavon 1794

This genus was named for Sr. Don Antonio Caballero y Gongora, one-time viceroy of New Granada (Colombia and Ecuador) and later Bishop of Cordoba; Governor of Peru during the Ruiz & Pavón expeditions. Rod Rice (2002) believes that there are 65-70 epiphytic species comprising the genus. They are all native to tropical America, from Mexico, Central America and the West Indies, through South America to Bolivia, but Colombia is the center of distribution, offering at least 28 different species, with additional taxa to be identified. The type species is Gongora quinquenervis, described by Hipólito Ruiz Lopez & J.A. Pavón in 1794 in their Prodromus Florae Peruvianae et Chilensis. Abbreviated Gga.

Culture:
Grows epiphytically in wet forest from 0-1,000 meters. Pendent inflorescences with many flowers emerge from the base of the deeply ridged, quared pseudobulbs and then gracefully arch away from the plant. Cultivate most of the species under intermediate conditions, acidic, moist, heavy feeding, basket or pot. The leaves are generally lighter green, smaller, and more plicate than most stanhopeas.

Rand (1876), wrote "These plants are all very curiously formed, the flowers resembling a string of grasshoppers. They should be grown in hanging baskets, in moss and peat. The flower-spikes are very long, pendent, and freely produced. When in growth they should be kept moist and warm, but should have a long rest. Bloom during the summer."

Gongora quinquenervis Ruiz & Pavon, published in Syst. veg. 227 (1798). [Mexico; Costa Rica; Panama; Brazil; Ecuador; Peru] - a fall-flowering species. Dressler (1993) writes: "This catchall name is used for any Gongora that doesn't fit clearly in another species. The species was originally named from a Peruvian plant (a very poor specimen). Careful work is still needed to sort out the species in this complex." For instance, the following are all synonyms of Gga. quinquinervis: atropurpurea, boothiana, bufonia, fulva, heisteri, histrionica, jenischii, leuchochila, nigropunctata, quadricornis, quinquevulneris, retrorsa, shepherdii, and vitellina.

Gongora tricolor (Lindl.) Rchb.f., Bonplandia (Hanover) 2: 93 (1854). [Costa Rica; Panama] - resinous odor. Dressler (1993) writes: "One author has suggested that G. fulva is the correct name for this species, but the original illustration (of a plant of unknown origin) is not convincing. In a group as difficult as Gongora, names based on plants of unknown origin should remain in limbo."
AOS award: Gga. tricolor 'Autre Vie' HCC/AOS Feb 2002. 1 inflor. with twenty brightly-colored flowers.

Paul H. Allen 1953. "Pollination in Gongora maculata," in: Ceiba 4(2): 121-125. The late Dr. Allen, a banana expert, spent much time in the tropics collecting and observing orchids. This is an excellent account of a first hand observation by a gifted naturalist. Drawings by Mrs. Dorothy O. Allen, the author's wife. [annotation by Dr. Josephy Arditti]

Hipólito Ruiz (1931) A partial copy of the handwritten notes of Ruiz's Relación. Published in Spain. Edited by Padre Agustín Jesús Barreiro.

Hipólito Ruiz (1940) Travels of Ruiz, Pavón, and Dombey in Peru and Chile (1777–1788), Chicago: Botanical Series, Field Museum of Natural History, Volume 21. English translation by Dr. Boris Eric Dahlgren of the 1931 partial copy published in Spain.

Hipólito Ruiz (1998) The Journals of Hipolito Ruiz: Spanish Botanist in Peru and Chile, 1777--1788, Timber Press, 369 p. Translated by Richard Evans Schultes and María José Nemry von Thenen de Jaramillo-Arango; transcribed from the original manuscripts by Jaime Jaramillo-Arango.
"Ruiz spent 11 years exploring the villages and botanical landscapes of Peru and Chile. His journals contain detailed, personal observations of about 2000 plants, along with his impressions of the culture and perils of exploration in South America."